Nayra and the Djinn (Graphic Novel)

Recommended Audience: None.

Opinion: DO NOT RECOMMEND.

The conflation of what is theologically sound info about jinn and what is the author’s fantasy writing can cause confusion for young Muslim readers, even teens. Overall plot isn’t great anyways.

Details:

While I loved that the Muslim characters of this book are shown observing religious practices such as fasting and prayer, I feel that the liberties taken regarding jinn mixed with accurate info about jinn could be confusing for our Muslim readers. As an adult, albeit not extremely well versed in matters of the Jinn, there were times that I had to do some research to see if what was being portrayed in the book is actually a part of our faith or not; I would hate for a young Muslim reader to have to navigate that same space. For example, there is a section that talks about the nature of the universe and it being placed on the back of a whale. (See picture.) That struck me as odd and when I did research on it, it’s based on a fabricated hadith. See Sapience Institute’s video regarding this fabricated hadith here if you’re interested.

Furthermore, the storyline is honestly not that great. The main character Nayra has an extremely clingy friend named Rami who is upset with her for not spending enough time together. Nayra is constantly called ‘baba ganoush’ by a bully and wants to switch schools. There’s not a lot of depth to the overall plot and readers won’t take away much in regards to lessons learned after reading this book.

Lastly, some families may also take issue with the fact that the author Iasmin Omar Ata identifies as non-binary. In the book it is stated that jinn do not have gender and the main jinn character also is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. I personally focus more on the content of books, rather than the author’s identity but I can appreciate how others would consider this when selecting books.